How to make a Yeast Starter
Up until now I've been happy to grab a few pounds of DME, some random specialty grains (whichever smelled the best to me on that day), add a handful of hops in 15 min increments during a 60 min boil and hope that my yeast pack or vial (which may or may not have been pulled from my refrigerator at the last minute) is healthy enough to brew my beer for me. Recently however I've moved to all-grain and started taking a greater interest in anything that could improve the quality of my beer, from better cleaning and sanitation to hop, grain, and yeast selection and fermentation temperatures. That is why I'm now going to do my first yeast starter.
I don't have a stir plate, I don't have flasks or oxygen tanks or any of the "fancy" gear that is on my holiday wish-list. Does that mean I can't get a great starter to produce better beer? Not necessarily. I've done some research and I'll walk you through my process as we go. Before we do anything, however, we need to head over to see Mr. Malty. Here is the Mr. Malty Pitching Rate Calculator (TM). We'll input a few things based on our beer and it will give us the size starter we need. I'll be brewing an American Amber (BJCP style 10b) with an O.G. of 1.056. According to production date calculation I have a viability of 77%. I'll be doing a 5 gal batch and I prefer to see my results in quarts so I'll change that in the preferences. Hit calculate and it gives me:
- 195 billion yeast cells needed
- 2.5 packs needed without a starter
- 1 packs needed with a starter
- 1.54 quarts of starter required
One last thing we need from Mr. Malty; Jamil notes that we should use roughly 6 oz by weight of DME to 2 quarts of water so we can stay around 1.040 O.G. for our starter (No, going significantly higher will not benefit you, regardless of your beer's target O.G.). Since I need 1.54 quarts I will use (6 * 1.54)/2 = 4.62 oz by weight. You probably isn't the same as mine so change your amounts appropriately.
Shopping List
- DME - We don't need much so 1lb bag is fine. If you prefer to buy in bulk that is fine as well.
- Yeast Nutrient - The purpose of this is yeast health, we should give them the best environment possible.
- Yeast - If you are doing a 5 gallon batch of average gravity you should be fine with a single pack or vial.
- Aluminum Foil - If you don't have any you'll need this to keep dust and bacteria out of the starter. No we will not be using a stopper and airlock.
Yeast, Nutrients, DME, Cleaner, Sanitizer
Also Needed
- Fermentation Vessel - Anything that can hold your starter plus the krausen should be fine, I'll be using a growler.
- Brew Pot - A sauce pan should be fine with such a small amount of wort to be boiled.
- Thermometer - You need to be able to tell when your wort gets down to 72 degrees.
- Wire Whisk - Anything to stir with is fine but I found a whisk works great.
- Funnel - If you can pour into your fermentation vessel without one that's one less thing to sanitize, but if you're like me pouring into a growler we'll need a funnel.
Time to get started!
Clean and Sanitize
We need to clean and sanitize our fermentation vessel and anything else that will come in contact with the starter this includes the funnel if you are using one and any stir sticks or spoons you might want to use. Also sterilize the scissors or knife you will use to open the yeast pack if needed. Also, break off a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the opening of your fermentation vessel and sanitize that too while you're at it.
Boil the Wort
Measure out the amount of DME needed as we calculated above. Bring your water to a boil, pull off heat, add malt extract, add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient, return to heat and continue boiling for 10-15 min. All we really need to do is sterilize the wort and get a hot break. While the wort is boiling, lets get ready for the next step by filling the sink or a tub with cold water and ice. You can add some salt to the water to get it even colder.
Cool, Pour, and Pitch
Take your brew pot (sauce pan) and place it in the ice bath to bring it down to roughly room temp (72 degrees). This should be a good temperature to keep your yeast at during the 12-18 hour fermentation we will be giving it. Even lager yeasts do not need to be kept cool in a starter, though a few degrees cooler is fine. We are focusing on healthy lively yeast production not on brewing beer (yet!). Now that we are cooled we will pour the wort into our fermentation vessel (growler) and pitch the yeast. Close off the top with the sanitized aluminum foil and shake vigorously. We will be shaking hourly if possible to increase the available oxygen and stimulate the yeast. The best way is to have a stir plate constantly oxygenating the wort but since we're cheap we'll shake and get a pretty good outcome besides.
Completed Yeast Starter
12-18 hours later and... Finally, we have a 1.5 quart yeast starter at high krausen ready to pitch in some freshly boiled wort. I'll pitch the whole thing in, liquid, yeast and all. If you for some reason do not want that extra wort you can always let the starter go for a few more days, chill and decant the liquid at the top. I'm using a light DME and adding that small amount to my American Amber will not change the flavor enough to worry about. Congratulations, let us know how your first yeast starter turned out!
